Scars
by radiatezanessa
Summary: She was forced away from her old home; left to deal with a new school and rude students – especially this one boy, who riled her up to no extent. He was a jerk, yet he couldn't stress it enough that he was doing this all to protect her.
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone. I'm basically new to this whole fanfiction thing, not writing of course...but still, bear with me. My name's Audree, and pretty much this is my story. Hope you guys like it! Review please? :) With Zac Efron on top?

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><p>"Gabriella!"<p>

The loud echoing of her name rang through her ears as she tried to muffle the sound with the fabric of her pillow – to no avail, the voice continued gradually getting higher and nearer with every groan she protested. She didn't gather enough sleep last night to be awake at this time, to have the will power to carry herself off the bed and reach the confinements of her bathroom. Her hazy mind was incompetent to the shouts she continued to listen to like an annoying song that had been replayed countless times on the radio. Gabriella was too comfortable and cozy to roll out of bed, so instead rolled closer to the wall, allowing a silent whisper of a song to enter into her mind – it worked for a few seconds to block out the noise, but the sound was no wall to keep away the rush of air that suddenly flooded all over her body. Immediately her body began to shiver, the goose bumps were well apparent on her body as she jerked forward and opened her eyes in an instant.

"Dad!" Her own shout was enough to wake herself up from the sleepy trance she had been in – enough to counter a satisfied grin on the man whom she called her father; her own flesh and blood, her only friend in this lousy town. When the two had moved here, her expectations for the neighbors around had been low; she realized not to expect everyone to welcome her warmly, to take her in as their own family like she had once been in California. She had been here less than a week, yet not one person had come to greet her to the suburban neighborhood. Maybe it wasn't that bad; she could keep to herself for a bit, continue being the shy and impeccable student she had always been. But today…was almost a new beginning, she was sure.

Today was the first day of school.

And already, the inevitable bad mood swooped in and overcame all her other emotions.

She had no one else to thank but her own roommate of the house; her just ridiculously obnoxious father.

"Up." He set the blanket down neatly at the end of the bed, giving her a stern look when she hadn't moved an inch. "Breakfast is on the table. You have 30 minutes until classes start."

Gabriella stared agape at her father, unaware of the pallid look he was shooting her way until he had raised both eyebrows particularly high. There was no fringe to hide the obvious expression showing all over his face, so Gabriella widened her eyes when she finally understood the parental objective of her father.

"Okay." She mumbled shyly as she scooted out of bed, flashing a weak smile before she had disappeared into her bathroom. Her father let out a disbelieving laugh and sauntered out of her bedroom, shutting the door rather loud behind him – a signature that he had left Gabriella alone to herself. When her ears picked up the noise, she walked out of the bathroom like a lost puppy and spent a few seconds staring at her boxed/empty bedroom. One thing was clear on this dry, sunny morning.

She hated this town already.

Gabriella pressed out a dry smile as she skipped her way into the kitchen, meeting the busy figure of her father too diligent in the newspaper to realize the fact that she had even walked in. "You made eggs?" She leaned into the inviting smell, licking her lower lip in absolute want and hunger. As if on cue, her stomach grumbled with a loud muffle, sending a curved smile straight onto her father's face.

"I know it's your favorite." He grinned cheekily and lifted the newspaper up, sliding the other plate towards her which contained none other than her other favorite food. "Save me a piece, will ya?"

She finally allowed a genuine smile to take over the hardened expression from before and reached over, plucking a piece of bacon in between her fingers.

Maybe this day wasn't going to be as bad as she thought.

Of course, she spoke too soon.

"Move, bitch," Gabriella's nostrils flared as she let out a breath between her gritted teeth, trying her best to not reply with a comment to the overly large junior walking down the halls. So far, in the ten minutes that she had been at the school, a plethora of things happened to her.

First; the bus; Her father could not drive her due to the fact that he had almost been a half hour late to work - which was in no way how to start a new job. There weren't any seats available, and the only one that had been, was of a blue-eyed boy – gorgeous nonetheless – expect his personality didn't do any wonders for him. Before she could even finish asking if she could sit next to him, he responded with a cold, anger filled no…followed by a loud "fuck off." That boy was possibly the rudest of interactions she had witnessed today, except it was almost a runner up to the recent person she just knocked into moments ago. He knocked her books out of her hands, shoved her to the side, and merely laughed in her face. For a lack of better words…what the fuck had she done to deserve this?

"Need help?"

Gabriella cocked an eyebrow at the offer from the bubbly girl in front of her, the brown hair cascading slightly to her hips and swaying as she kneeled down to help grab the accessories.

"Thanks." Gabriella whispered sharply, standing up in due time with the brown haired girl – who she desperately hoped would be civilized the whole time during this horrible first day experience.

"Don't mind everyone…first days are always a little rough." She said with a large smile, politely pushing the book back into Gabriella's hand. And as she did, she let her own tanned hand stay there as an introduction. "I'm Alessandra. Call me Allie, though." Alessandra – Allie – beamed when Gabriella shook her hand, for an unknown reason to the other dark-haired beauty. This was very refreshing from the other greetings she had gotten. No one, not even in her old school, seemed this happy to talk a new student.

"Gabriella." She answered back with a slightly less exciting smile, dropping her hand to her side to resume the action of holding her books. Allie puckered her lips together and shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"Nice to meet you," Allie marveled. "Anyways, I have to go do the announcements. Maybe we have some classes together?" She only nodded her head enthusiastically and before Gabriella could even ask what they were, she was already around the corner and away from sight.

So, this Allie girl must've been part of the student council, she mused; or something of the like. Either way, she was all too preppy and happy to be a genuine person. No one could really have a personality like that…right?

Gabriella pushed the thoughts aside as she looked down at the map, determining where the prison – class – was. Of course, with her luck, Science would be the first subject she would have to endure every single morning…for the rest of the year, which was a good estimated _ days.

She would ask if her life could get any worse, but she was already aware of that answer.

Without somewhat even a warning, a pile of books slammed down onto the desk she had seated herself in. She found her class in no time, found a spot quickly, and relaxed back tiredly to wait for the bell to ring. But apparently, someone wasn't okay with her choice.

"You're in my seat."

Her eyes fluttered open, immediately widening upon seeing the boy from the bus – who so rudely denied her request to sit down. The whole bus ride was her having to sit in the front, squishing in with two other…very smelly…people.

Gabriella's features darkened with anger as she straightened herself out in the chair. "Your seat?" She asked incredulously; to which he only responded with a sly nod. "I didn't know we had assigned seats on the _first _day of school." Gabriella retorted.

"Yeah, well _I_ do." The blue eyed boy penetrated his stare further at Gabriella, those azure eyes transforming into a darker shade of his original color. The emotions seen were a mixture of anger, hate, and….it appeared to be…lust? Gabriella was surely imagining things, but this kid was churning her insides by just a cold stare in her direction. How could someone so mean, be so…captivating?

"Are you gonna get up or what?" He growled, the hesitance noticeable as he turned his gaze away from her to look down at the desk.

Gabriella gulped, unable to form a coherent sentence – nothing witty, nothing equally rude…nothing. Instead, she hastily grabbed all of her belongings and pushed past him, her only option of a seat being the one next to him.

But before she had sat down, she heard the small laugh come from him – and it was like music to her ears, even if it was supposed to be one of those satisfied, cocky laughs.

Gabriella immediately slouched down in the new, cold chair and tapped her recently abridged nails on the wood desk, patiently waiting for the teacher to begin the lesson. He had his thoughts on other things it seemed, so she narrowed her eyes and focused herself to keep her eyes straight forward – away from the abrupt student way too close to her.

Images of her old life came into her mind in snippets; her old friends who she would have done anything for, the ones she so helplessly had to leave behind. In her sophomore year, she was actually considered popular amongst all of the other classmates. People wanted to be her, wanted to befriend her…and they wouldn't dare do what any of the kids had done today. Why were things so excessively different? But she just knew she would give anything to go back to her old lif-

"Will you fucking take your pencil already?"

Gabriella blindly moved her head to the side, her lips pursed in confusion at the statement this boy had lashed out. He stared at her with an intense aura, almost glaring his way through Gabriella like she had been some invisible girl. Only until he swung the pencil in his hand did Gabriella realize what he was trying to say…or rather demand.

"Oh – um – sorry…" She whispered as a faint pink emerged onto her cheeks, embarrassed greatly while she extended her hand out to grab the pencil. When her finger tips had softly touched the graphite, the angle caused his to brush past hers, igniting a very prominent spark that caught the attention of a few classmates. Gabriella's eyes widened as her mouth opened, and then his blue eyes did the same…only he had pulled away with such force, she felt as if she would fall sideways. She was too stunned to do anything, speak…even. She knew about people feeling some sort of spark when they touched someone, usually someone they were intrigued in…but this…

It was an actual spark.

Like a fire was about to erupt.

How was that even remotely possible?

"Will you stop fucking looking at me like that?" He whispered harshly to Gabriella, giving her a dirty look before he went back to speaking to his friends, as if it had never happened. She was just left there; staring at his perfectly defined back…not knowing what to do next. There was just no way…

"When I told you not to mind anyone…I mostly meant him."

Gabriella willed herself to calm as she turned to the recognizable voice, feeling relief wash over her upon seeing Alessandra – the only nice person she had met today. With a scoff, Gabriella laughed lightly. "I don't even know what I did to him…"

"You probably didn't do anything…" She assured. "He's just normally like that. Rude, arrogant – a dick. Don't take it personally."

How could she not take it personally though? He was on her bus, in her class…it was evident she was going to be seeing him for the rest of the year.

"Gotcha." Gabriella nodded and scratched at the back of her head, searching for answers somehow.

"He's only nice to a few people…" Alessandra continued. "You learn to avoid it all." Well, this Alessandra girl definitely knew her facts about the boy. Did that mean many people did? Was he actually popular…when he acted like _that_?

"Are you friends with him?" Her voice came out in a whisper, afraid that he was listening in on their conversation – or anyone else for that matter.

Alessandra opened her mouth to speak, but a voice not very similar to hers spoke first – manly, deep, and coming from the front of the classroom.

Gabriella looked from Allie to the teacher, absentmindedly letting out a heavy sigh. He was tall, rugged looking, gray hairs adorning his whole head – obviously he was one of those old teachers, but the real question was…was he one of those mean ones? Or could he make this science class actually interesting? Aside from Allie, nothing was great about the classmates. She couldn't express how thankful she was for having her next to her.

"So, I'll start with attendance…and then I'll give a brief synopsis of how this school year is going to go. You can either make this a good year, or a bad year. It's all depending on you. But I insist that you all behave. Or I will not make this fun for you. I promise."

Apparently, it wasn't the latter.

"Cassie Advaga?"

Gabriella pulled out her cellphone, hiding it beneath her notebook while the teacher continued calling out the names, names she could care less about right now. With glimmering eyes, she opened up a text message from her friend back in California, her best friend who she promised to always keep in contact with.

**This town blows Shar. This**_** school**_** blows. Im miserable. Save me, plz? ~Gabi**

"Troy Bolton?"

The name had nearly no importance to her, she assumed, but when her deep brown orbs looked up and watched the boy next to her raise his hand, she rolled her eyes un-amusedly and sneered. She was desperately hoping to never find out his name…but clearly, she didn't get what she wanted.

"Alessandra…" Gabriella smiled at the name of her new friend, cutting a look over at her to watch her raise her hand…but something stood out suddenly…something Gabriella couldn't quite put her finger on. Those blue eyes and brown hair – looked an awful a lot like- "Bolton?"

No. Fucking. Way.


	2. Chapter 2

"Dad!" Gabriella called out as she entered through the door, carelessly dropping her azure backpack onto the floor, seemingly matching the shade of Troy's orbs. That's the first thing she noticed about Troy, alongside from that cocky grin fitting his features perfectly. She wasn't supposed to find any sort of attraction to the senior, yet his looks were those of a god fallen from the skies. Were there really any flaws besides that egotistical personality? The answer was a simple, no.

"Dad?" She repeated, a curious tone subtle, slowing igniting pursed lips and raised eyebrows.

That was odd – he had told her he would be home specifically before she arrived, to make sure he could get the details on how her day had went. Not that she had any good news to tell him, but she still figured he would own up to his decent promise.

If she couldn't share her day to her father, Sharpay would have to suffice.

Gabriella rolled her eyes at her father's decency to keep a promise and walked up the stairs towards her freshly painted room, with boxes that lay around the uncarpeted floor. She was far too lazy to unpack the many that boxes which now defined her plain, light purple room. And for some reason, she presumed she wouldn't be able to take the items out anytime soon.

Her mind had more important matters to attend to. It included finishing up stray homework she managed to get on the first day of school, and call her long distance best friend.

In no time the Iphone was attached tightly to her ear as she eagerly waited for the dial tone to cease. It had gone on for a good minute before Sharpay's smooth voice finally filled the silence.

"Oh, look who decided to call me." Sharpay said casually, though Gabriella was well aware the blonde was only joking with her. "Are the kids at the school hotter than me?" Was the first thing she asked.

"Hotter?" Gabriella repeated with hesitance as she pushed back into her comfortable bed, her lips parting from each other to partake in a short, muffled sentence. "More like bitchier."

"Bitchier?" On the other end of the line, Gabriella could almost make out Sharpays widened hazel eyes and agape mouth. Hey, if she was in the position her best friend was in, she'd be overly shocked as well. It was a revelation really – no one was bitchier than Sharpay, that is until Gabriella discovered East High.

"Yeah," She sighed timidly, wondering, albeit briefly, if they were rude to Gabriella for a specific reason, or if they were all just genuinely indecent. "I mean, there was this one girl who was pretty nice." She calmly stated. "But I don't think I'll be talking to her again."

"And why the hell not?" Sharpay countered. "If she's gonna be the only nice one, don't be a dumbass and avoid her."

Gabriella didn't expect Sharpay to understand. How could she?

Alessandra was the twin sister to Troy Bolton, and as long as they were related, Gabriella had a hard time believing Alessandra was actually showing kindness towards her. It just seemed almost impossible that she was beyond different from her brother.

And as the day went by, Gabriella was prompting for more information on the duo – but secretly, just Troy Bolton. She wanted to know more about him, what made him tick, how he transformed into a cold hearted teenager…or if he was born with the hatred.

So far, with only two classes linking Troy, and almost every class with Alessandra, she hadn't found out any information. Other than them both being extremely close siblings, which was clearly showed as they sat side by side in lunch. Gabriella was left sitting at a table where no one uttered a word, not like they seemed all that interested in her anyway.

But surprising to herself, Gabriella found herself glancing at Troy every so often, mesmerized by his athletic physique and oceanic eyes. He was _very_ easy on the eyes, especially when Gabriella caught a glimpse of a smile on his face. It was only once though, and the embarrassing part? He looked straight at her amidst it, only forcing that smile to vanish as fast as it came.

"I just don't think we'll be good friends." Gabriella settled for a common lie as she closed her eyelids momentarily, basking in the relaxing atmosphere. It was short lived once Sharpay scoffed into the receiver.

"You're talking out of your ass, aren't you?" Sharpay questioned bluntly. "How the hell are you going to manage out there if you have no friends? It's like you want me to miss you more each day."

Gabriella grinned, her shiny teeth pinching her lower lip to hold in the giggles threatening to itch stupidly across her face. There were moments like these shared with her best friend which made her ache to return back to the town. Damn her father for wanting to maintain a stable job out here.

"I don't-"

Her voice faltered as soon as she heard an impetuous sound filling the air, similar to those sounds of a bang against some hard surface. It sounded much larger, and much closer to her than she would have liked.

"What the hell was that?" Sharpay broke Gabriella out of her trance by almost shouting at her through the cell phone, having heard the noise as well.

"I don't know…" Gabriella wasn't aware of the bile forming in her throat due to the nerves now racking her whole body, but she swallowed the lump and let out a shaky breath. "Stay on the phone." She demanded.

If there was one thing she could count on Sharpay for, it was listening to Gabriella with whatever she may ask, or rather tell.

Gabriella could feel a small trickle of sweat bead down her forehead, and she couldn't tell if it was from the heat steaming through the air, or if it was from the nerves gradually building up.

Either way, with the phone clutched firmly to her chest, she slowly tip-toed out of her bedroom, and towards the area where she assumed the sound had come from. But she didn't know where it started; it had been too brief for her to have a persistent place.

Finally, after what felt like ages, she was able to rekindle her voice and speak once more. It was just as equally shaky, and it was obvious how terrified she was.

"Hello?" She called out. "Anyone there?"

Gabriella was home alone, on her cell phone, and a loud bang sounded through her house…how could she not be absolutely scared for her life?

At first, she thought maybe it could be her father returning from work, but as she walked down the steps and into the living room, the door was still bolted shut – still locked.

"Hello-"

Gabriella let out a boisterous scream and dropped the cell phone from her grasp, her entire body twisting to look behind her at the voluminous window. Nothing was apparent in her view, except for the couches and television her father had previously set up.

But with squinted eyes, she soon noticed the solution to preventing the noises.

Gabriella sprinted over to the couch, reaching her entire form to the window so she could pull it back and shut it completely, before anymore bangs could erupt.

So, there hadn't been a robber or serial killer in her home.

Only a window which had been open, and which had been enough to scare the living shit out of Gabriella.

This was a story she was going to keep to herself, no matter how many times Sharpay asked what happened.

Her cheeks were burning with a pink fire, making the olive skin turn into a flushed pigment. Never in her life, had she been so embarrassed of the actions prior.

"Stupid window." She glared venomously at the window, lifting herself from the couch to return to her shattered phone. And it wasn't a sight she wanted to be met with.

"Oh, come on!" Gabriella whined as she bent down to pick it up, fumbling for a moment to keep it steady. The whole screen was cracked, with tiny shards of glass falling off in the process. Now it looked like her father would have to buy something else…even though he just spent life-savings on this house.

"Gabriella?"

She sucked in air through her nose and carefully lifted the phone to her ear, cautious not to allow it to reach the skin. "I'm gonna have to call you back." Gabriella told Sharpay, listening to the quick reply before she moved the phone away and lightly pressed the end button. At least it still worked properly, even though she could barely see anything she did on the phone.

Could her day get anymore worse?

Silent prayers, wishes, it all went unanswered when she heard the door creek open.

And the first words she heard from her father, were of those she wished she didn't have to respond to.

"What the hell happened?"

Gabriella slowly turned around to face the confused form of her father, whose eyes were locked on the broken phone in her hand.

"The window was threatening me," She started quietly, "So I threw my phone at it for protection?"

His lips curved upward into a smirk, and she noted the way his eyes gleamed with an unknown brightness. "You dropped it, didn't you?"

She settled for the simple nod, the simple…ashamed nod.

"I raised a bad-ass daughter." He retorted. "Oh, how proud I am of you."

The last thing her father expected was to be met with the visual of a cell phone being thrown at him, straight in the stomach until the force caused a half cough to escape him. The phone was already broken, what more could be done?

"Whoops, it slipped."

"You're…gonna get it now, Gabs."

The only sounds that could be heard from then on were her giggles as her father tickled the life out of her, just as he did when she was merely a little girl.

And while she was tickled, the thoughts that were soon going to enter her mind vanished completely.

When she got home, the window was closed.

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><p>"You really couldn't just take the bus?" He father complained for the tenth time as he kept his eyes on the road, glancing occasionally at the exhausted brunette in the passenger's seat.<p>

Gabriella rolled her eyes in sync with her father's complaints, each and every time giving him the same reasoning. "Last time, I had to sit with two people." She said, looking over at him. "I'm not going through that again." At least, not until she could drive this junk of a car herself.

"Well, isn't that a way of making new friends?" He asked. "You could use a little more."

Gabriella looked at him incredulously, aiming a clean punch at his arm. "I have enough friends here, okay?" She mumbled and sunk back into the seat, arms crossing over her chest in a huff. Only, she had zero friends in this crummy town.

"Whatever you say." He wasn't buying it, and she was sure she would hear more about it later, after returning home from his 'busy' day of work, as he did yesterday. That was his excuse for being an hour late; and while she could understand that, something about the way he said it made her not believe it.

The car skidded to a stop directly in front of the school, where kids were aimlessly walking to the doors of East High, laughing and giggling with bright smiles on their faces. Was that all an act? Half of the kids barely smiled, and she knew that for a fact.

She leaned over and gave her father a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks, dad," Once she pulled away, she jutted out her lower lip in a pout and worked her way towards the entrance, avoiding each glare and glance.

Could they make it any more obvious how much they disliked her?

Gabriella dreaded what was to come of first period, she almost thought about skipping it, even though she couldn't threaten her perfect record like that. But really…the thought was reoccurring.

"Gabriella!"

Yeah, the thought was entered again.

Gabriella let out an annoyed breath and turned to see Alessandra jogging towards her, the straight pinned hair swaying delicately with every step. Then again, it reminded her that the Bolton's weren't lacking in the appearance part.

"Hi, Allie," She feigned a smile as she started walking to class, having no intentions of waiting up for her 'friend'.

"Cute outfit." Allie commented brightly with a smile and walked side by side to Gabriella, nudging her playfully to continue the charade. When would Allie just give in and show her how she truly was? Someone mean like Troy Bolton himself?

"Thanks," Gabriella looked down at her outfit, cocking an eyebrow after she realized her outfit wasn't nearly cute at all. It was a pair of skinny jeans, completed with a pink t-shirt to match. Cute? More like simple and boring, similar to her personality at the moment.

"So you ready to deal with Mr. Browning again?" Allie exasperated a sigh. "I swear, he's the rudest teacher in this whole school."

Gabriella sternly nodded her head as she entered the classroom, her eyes roaming around to see if she could spot the figure of someone she hoped wouldn't show up. She wasn't in the mood for his deadly stares and snarky remarks to every answer she gave.

Without spotting him, she smiled approvingly and looked at the chalkboard, where she expected to see the teacher. Jeez, he couldn't even show up before the students?

The chalkboard read 'sit at a lab table', which added to things she disliked about this school. So much work, and they only just begun.

Gabriella and Alessandra departed ways, but not after Allie told her she would return to sit at the lab table with her, in which she only responded with another nod. Really? Did she have to have such sympathy for Gabriella? And make it so evident? How was she going to avoid this girl if she kept pressing to talk to her?

She tapped her fingers against the table after she settled in, and really took the time to notice the people around the classroom. Most seemed pathetically bored like herself, while others gazed longingly at the girl Bolton. Boys, girls; each were staring with admiration as she talked to her fellow peers. It was almost like they worshipped her.

"Where the hell were you this morning?"

Gabriella's eyes widened as she noticed the voice speak out to her, sounding like a low growl to her ears. Her head quickly jerked to the side to see him leaning over the lab table, his books clutched to him, and his nose practically flaring dangerously. What the hell was his problem? Besides the obvious, that is.

"What?" She replied in shock, feeling the air catch in her throat suddenly with the glare he aimed towards her.

"I said," Troy gripped his notebook harder and his knuckles dazed into a white, looking like he was about to explode any minute. He leaned forward more, his blue eyes frantically searching hers. "Where were you this morning?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Gabriella whispered, feeling intimidated by his stance and how he approached her. He just absconded into the room without a word to his friends, and casually made his way to the lab table she was at. Now he was demanding to know where she was this morning?

"The bus." He said through gritted teeth, his perfectly defined jaw clenching. "You weren't on it."

"I…" Gabriella didn't know what to say to that, nor did she have the ability to voice it out. So many questions lingered through her mind, the main one being why the hell was he so angry? And why did he assume it was his business to know? "My dad…drove-"

"Troy, what the hell are you doing?"

Something flickered in Troy's eyes which made a notion that he recognized the voice, but he made no move to look at her or tear his eyes away from Gabriellas. Being under his intense stare like this was starting to make her uncomfortable, and not in a way expected from someone who disliked this boy strongly. Her stomach felt uneasy, like butterflies were erupting often. It was almost like the feeling when his hand touched hers, and that unexplained spark ignited. She still wondered mainly about that, ever since it occurred; only she was too afraid to ask what it meant.

"I was just telling this geek to stop looking at me." He hissed as he slowly started turning his head to look at Alessandra, his blood continuously boiling with the shock still evident on Gabriella's face.

"She's not a geek." Allie said, giving him a push back towards the other lab table.

The gaze he had on her was still in full effect, she was frozen in spot even as Allie came over to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"You ok?"

As her brown eyes lifted to look at Allie, the only coherent thing she could utter was a "Huh?" It was like she was hypnotized.

And still, the only thing she could remember was the way his cobalt eyes were looking at her.

What the hell just happened?


	3. Chapter 3

"I'll tell him to stop bothering you, if you'd li-"

Gabriella raised a stern hand at Alessandra, forcing her to clamp her perfectly sculpted lips shut. Ah, finally, _quietness._

"Seriously, Allie, it's fine." She promised weakly as she exited the classroom, the brunette following close behind. "I can take a few insults here and there."

Yeah, it's been exactly a week since Troy's sudden outburst in the classroom – a whole week. That may not seem like the longest amount of time, but for Gabriella, it felt as though it were eternity.

He continued his simple charade as an aloof teenager, doing anything and everything to get under Gabriella's olive toned skin. Simply, cracking brusque jokes was not enough. No, Troy went full out on the torment.

At any precise time, he'd been laughing at her with his buddies, knocking down her books from her feeble hands, embarrassing her in any way attainable.

To say she had been fed up with his games, that was a thorough understatement.

He was _mutilating _her.

And who was by her side, through it all?

No other than his distinctly personalized sister; Alessandra.

It just didn't make sense.

"But you shouldn't have to." Allie commented sincerely, treading towards Gabriella's side with a candid smile transfixed on her features.

Gabriella had come to a realization, that Allie's persona and personality, wasn't even the smallest bit of a façade. She truly was genuine, around everybody – anybody.

With the exception of Troy, that is.

"It doesn't annoy me as much as it annoys you." Gabriella beguiled defensively. "Just drop it, ok?"

"If you say so…"

"Thank you."

There was an awkward silence between the pair, and Gabriella loathed the uncomfortable feeling of Alessandra boring into her soul. It was like she was trying to press the matter, somehow get Gabriella to blurt out the truth about her concealed feelings. Even though they have only been friends for a week, or around there, Alessandra wasn't completely a mystery. She had her moments, where she'd just look at you, in attempt to find out unknown information. And usually? It worked.

"So…" Allie peeped in, striving to amend the unpleasant moment. "Are you still coming over today? I already have the first page finished, and—"

"Troy won't be there, right?" Gabriella asked, making no notion to look at Allie, since she was merely focused on opening her locker.

"No…" She muttered. "He has basketball practice till 5, so that gives us about…" There was a hesitant break, until the soft voice broke through the reticence. "3 hours?"

The relief surged through her veins as she nudged free her lock, proceeding to grab all of her items needed for the project. They were assigned some report about a scientist of their choice, and it was really no surprise when Allie stormed over and nicely demanded for Gabriella to be her partner. She wasn't going to say no though, how could she? There wasn't anyone else in the class who she'd be with, so that left Allie as the only option.

But, that didn't mean she was jovial about her assistance.

This project would probably take a substantial amount of time to complete, and that usually required needing to spend time together – outside of school.

Gabriella's eyebrows scrunched slightly and she lightly slammed her locker, unintentionally. "I'll see you then?"

"Sure thing." Allie's contagious smile made an appearance once again. "See you then!"

And, she was gone.

* * *

><p>Gabriella scoffed as she ran a hand through her loose curls. "As <em>if.<em>" She commented. "You and Zeke are perfect for each other, and we already agreed that I'd be the maid of honor at your wedding."

"First of all…" The voice spoke through the phone in an annoyed tone. "I'm not even sure I want to get married. I'm only 18."

"So?" She countered irritably. "There's been like a million 18 year olds who've eloped and spent the rest of thei—"

"Gabs, seriously, just shut up." Sharpay laughed in a hushed melody. "I have a long time before I have to worry about marriage."

"You might as well. You two already act like a married couple." Gabriella grinned smugly. "I mean, Shar, you have him begging for sex…also, he probably has a thousand scars from how whipped he's become."

Unwillingly, Sharpay let out an enormous laugh at the claim from her best friend. "That's not true!"

Moments like these reminded her how much she missed her best friend, her hometown in general. She'd give anything to take a plane back to New York and rekindle the good times.

"Whatever you say." Gabriella chuckled briefly, before the inevitable goodbye occurred. "Listen, I have to get to Allie's to do this project. I'll call you as soon as I get home?"

"Yeah, yeah. Talk to you later, babe."

"Bye, bye."

A flutter of sadness flew through her body as she ended the call, mindlessly staring down at her phone, wishing somehow this wasn't what she had to resort to every day.

God, why did her father have to bring her here?

Gabriella deliberately pushed those thoughts aside for the mean time as she jumped off her bed. She recently found out that Alessandra lived about three blocks away from her, which made sense since she was on the same bus as her. But at the same time, she was ungrateful for the short distance between them. Because having Allie as a friend, meant Troy would continue to make her life a living hell. She just couldn't win in this situation, could she?

10 minutes later, Gabriella was panting uncontrollably in front of the Bolton residence. With her amazing luck, while she was walking to Allies, a pit-bull just so happened to be let loose from its confinements.

The gradual walk transformed into a helpless run as she tried she avoid getting torn to pieces by the bloodcurdling animal.

"You alright there?" Allie asked with true concern, having opened the door without Gabriella so much as tapping her fingers against the door.

"I...pit-bull…chasing…" Gabriella stuttered in a pant. Her whole body was leaning forward and her hands rested involuntarily on her knees. She reluctantly looked up to the wide eyed girl.

"Why didn't you tell me to pick you up?" Allie shrieked and gripped Gabriella's shaking forearm, pulling her forcefully into the comforting abode.

Refraining from letting out a sarcastic laugh, Gabriella instead focused on her erratic breathing. "I wasn't aware…you had a…c-car." She whispered.

"Of course I do." Allie looked down at her as if she stated the most absurd thing in the world. What was with the baffled look? She _was_ the one who took the bus every day.

"Oh." She said quietly, albeit unsurely. Allie couldn't actually expect Gabriella to know she had a vehicle, right?

"You're lucky you weren't bitten." Her eyes scanned Gabriella's form, checking for any sign of a noticeable injury. It was Gabriella's turn to look bewildered. "Rabies is not something you'd want."

"Well, then, it's a good thing I'm a fast runner, huh?" Gabriella joked gingerly.

"Whatever." Allie motioned her head towards the staircase. "Let's get started."

That was odd. Allie altered into a motherly figure in a matter of seconds, and was actually seemingly acting degraded by Gabriella's behavior.

The Bolton's – they were definitely unlike any other siblings.

Finally, Gabriella had gotten her breathing back to normal, and followed Allie up the descending stairs. Her house was huge. Like, not some mansion huge, but _holy shit_. This house was probably the biggest in the neighborhood, maybe even town.

"Are your parent's home?" Gabriella questioned once they settled into Allie's room. Her room was nowhere near similar to Gabriella's. There were zebra stripes all over, practically flooding the walls.

But alas, this girl was in love with the color pink.

Really, could someone love pink as much as this?

"What?" Allie looked up with her blue eyes gleaming under the fluorescent lighting.

"I asked if your parents were home…" Gabriella repeated. She didn't see any parental supervision, but that didn't mean they weren't hiding off somewhere.

Allie looked perplexed by the simple question, and took a little too long to register what had been asked. "My parents?" She cocked an eyebrow. Then, as if something clicked inside that brain of hers, she perked up in realization. "Oh, right, my parents!" She giggled shortly and shook her head. "No, they're um, working till late."

"Sure…" Gabriella made an uncanny expression and turned her face away from Allie's, grabbing her notebook and pencil out of the bag she had brought along with her. "So, did you decide on a scientist already?"

Allie strolled over to her desk and pulled out a stack of papers. "Hope you don't have anything against Isaac Newton?" She said with a tiny smile.

"Not at all." Gabriella shrugged nonchalantly as she momentarily tried to recall any information on the deceased scientist. The only thing she could remember was an apple…and a tree?

"Um, but before we start," Gabriella began, earning full undivided attention from Allie. "Where's your bathroom?"

"Down the hall, first door on your right."

"Great, thanks." Gabriella set her pencil and notebook on the desk. "Be right back."

As she walked out of the room, and into the hallway, she couldn't help but let her curious instincts take over. Allie _did_ say he wouldn't be home until 5.

A grin accompanied her features at the thought of seeing exactly what Troys' room looked like. Did he have anything to hide? Was he secretly in love with unicorns? Or did he really have that immense passion for basketball?

Well, there was only one way to find out.

Instead of opening the first door on her right, she decided on the only other door down this particular hallway.

Now, Gabriella wasn't the sneakiest culprit known to man, but if she could get away with something this devious – that was debatable.

She did happen to win an award in second grade as 'most clumsiest'.

Letting out the air between her clenched teeth, she slowly took her time to close the door behind her, hoping the sound wouldn't echo throughout the empty house. And once she finally, successfully accomplished her task, she swallowed the lump in her throat that she hadn't realized was there.

"So…maybe he doesn't have a closeted unicorn obsession." Gabriella mumbled as she studied the rather large room, taking in the appearance of the grey walls and sparkling clean carpeted floor. Broadcasted all over the walls, were trophies resting on shelves, posters of famous basketball players, and a few certificates – which looked undeniably like awards for basketball.

Yes, Troy Bolton did have an immense passion for basketball.

A laugh bellowed from Gabriella when her eyes finally fell upon his queen sized bed; looks like Troy also had a passion for plush toys. This would be amazing payback for all of the insults he dropped onto her.

Hastily, Gabriella's small fingers plucked out her cell-phone from her pocket and lifted it cleanly into the air, positioning it at a perfect angle to capture each and every stuffed object lying on the bed.

"Ha." She uttered out triumphantly after the picture had been taken, and she concisely gazed at the photograph now saved into her memory card. "Take that, Tr—"

"—oy!"

_SHIT._

Gabriella's head whipped towards the door, almost faster than the speed of light, it felt like. That was sure to result in a gruesome kink later on.

"What are you doing home?"

The quiet voices appeared to get louder with every shocked blink Gabriella performed. If only she could move from her spot, yet her feet were ostensibly glued to the floor.

He wasn't supposed to be back for another three hours!

"Oh god – god oh." She muttered incoherently as her body finally pulled out of its paralyzed state and absentmindedly dropped down to the ground. Gabriella did the only thing she could think of at the moment.

She rolled herself under his bed.

Dammit, but why couldn't she remember how to breathe?

"Basketball practice was canceled." The familiar voice said in an emotionless tone. It was then, that the door creaked open, and a minute later, slammed harshly.

Gabriella's now sweaty hand covered her trembling lips, her breath escaping through the cracks in large amounts. She could barely make out his shoes as he walked around, but every time he inched closer to the bed, she felt her heart stop beating.

Fuck her curiosity.

Look where it landed her.

She tried to regulate her breathing, although was there really any point? If he found her, she'd be dead anyways. Why not just go on her own terms?

Music immediately reverberated in the room – some type of disturbingly loud rap music, you know, with the curses being said with every other pause. It was agonizing to listen to.

If she thought she was going to die by lack of breathing from the possibility of being caught, she was far off.

Because, when a shirt hit the floor, and following suit, a pair of jeans, she almost fell into oblivion.

Shoes were kicked off, the sound of a dresser was opened, and Gabriella cursed herself for allowing inappropriate thoughts to consume her.

Oh god, with her position, and the size of the room, she was able to faintly make out the contours of his back as he rummaged through his dresser in search for an outfit.

Don't turn around, don't turn around, she mused.

But, he then turned around to slip on his pants, and Gabriella gasped at the newly found sight.

Holy shit, his abs were so perfe—

It took Gabriella a minute to realize, but her eyes tore away from his godly like body to search around besides her, trying to find where the abrupt noise was coming from. It wasn't the music he had on, except she could somehow hear the mesh as it played with the rap.

And she quickly glanced at her cell-phone, brown eyes repetitively looking over the new text message.

_Where are you? –Allie _


	4. Chapter 4

I fail at updating quickly. Sigh. But aw, I didn't get that many reviews last chapter. :( Maybe this one I can get more? _There's your cue to review. Psssst._

* * *

><p>Gabriella could feel her heart wildly racing in her body as the blood accelerated through her veins. She was on the borderline of tense, but more so rather in an intense panic mode. If he caught her, she'd be dead. There were no questions about it. Dead would be what she would become, and she'd die in utter shame and embarrassment.<p>

The text message from Allie was sent to her a mere five minutes ago, and her conscience wouldn't allow herself to type back an answer, in fear of dying by Allie, after being killed by her intimidating brother. What more could she do than just be a still form under this bed, and wait desperately for Troy to ext the room and grant her unknowing permission to escape.

"That shit cray….that shit cray…"

Gabriella's ears perked up hastily, straining her neck to somehow get a better angle for the music to flow in the waves towards her, the music that didn't sound like it had come from a radio. It was all too alive, too _there_ to be the famous singer in the rap song. No, it was almost heavenly in comparison to the many voices she had heard in her life time. It was soft, tantalizing, the melody low, but nowhere near as disturbing to listen to.

And, she came to realization that the pure voice belonged to a hard, cold body, known as Troy Bolton.

He was singing along to the rap music, but made it sufferable.

"Ball so hard mothafuckas want to fi—"

Gabriella didn't intend to, but as he sang to the verse of the music, she let out a heart filled giggle in response to the lyrics that flowed passed his lips. It wasn't at the appropriate time, and she knew that after the music suddenly died down and she remembered where she was, and why she was trying to keep quiet. But…it was hard to suppress in the moment. He _was_ human. He wasn't the emotionless statue he led on to be.

His feet abruptly starting carrying themselves over to the bed in slow, agonizing strides - Gabriella helplessly watched, for it was far too late to liberate herself from the situation. She was going to get caught, and the consequences would probably be worse than death.

Now, she just hoped he would kill her instead of making her languish in humiliation.

"_Troy!" _

Her heart, it was beating again, and her head wasn't uncontrollably spinning with the lack of oxygen entering. She had never been more grateful for someone in her entire life, than she did when Allie called her brother into the other room. It's like she knew, that Gabriella was trapped underneath the surprisingly fresh smelling bed. Yes, the smell was intoxicating – the whole room smelled alive, unlike Troy's dead personality. Bewildering? Very much so.

As soon as she heard a door creek open, she shimmied herself away from the bed, bringing herself to a standing position almost immediately. It wasn't like the movies; she wasn't going to continue searching through the room, inspecting what he had left behind, be quiet as a mouse. She was going to run the hell out of there and get herself to the bathroom, the safe secluded area where the anxiety of being found wouldn't be a conflict.

And so, she managed to finally get to the bathroom, lock the door, and press her entire back against the wood in a heap. Her head had craned upward, giving her a perfect view of the skylight, emitting bright rays into the dark room. She was breathing heavily as she just stared, reminiscing on the prior memories of what had just occurred. Why was she so stupid to look around in someone's room? Troy Bolton, at that? If there was one thing she was sure about, she was never going to let her brave instincts take control, ever again.

She had no idea how long she had been in the bathroom, a good 10 minutes or so, until she settled on walking back to Allie's room. Troy's door was bolted shut, and the music was still loudly echoing throughout the house. Hopefully, she was clear – hopefully, she was safe.

"Did you get lost or something?" Was the first thing that was said by the amused brunette, who was resting on her neat bed with her elbow propped up and her palm covering her cheek. Her eyes were dancing with mirth, causing a delayed reaction from Gabriella.

"I…I had some things to take care of." Gabriella muttered stupidly as she walked forward. The door closed with a quiet bang, bringing the stumped culprit out of her trance.

"That took 30 minutes?" Allie questioned curiously, noticeably making it evident how her belief was not in Gabriella's measly lie. "Is everything ok?"

Gabriella only nodded, her mocha eyes trailing subtly away from the girl's threatening gaze.

"Are you sure?" She pressed as she swiftly sat up straight, pushing aside the notebook with letters scattered on the entire page. Gabriella figured she must have gotten a lot done in her absence, and it wasn't doubted with her clever brain.

"Positive." Gabriella carefully sauntered over to the desk, plucking her bag by the handles after she had shoved her notebook back into the depths. The last thing she needed was a guilty expression on her face as she worked with Allie on a project due in two weeks. "Listen, something came up at home—"

Allie quickly cut her off before she could even begin the next word. "Do you need a ride?" Her cerulean eyes swirled with patent worry as her body flew off the bed, staggering directly in front of Gabriella. She was a bit taken back by the forwardness, so instinctively took a step back.

"Um, no, it's alright." Gabriella widened her eyes and held her bag tighter to her. "I'll see you tomorrow in school?" Without an answer, she was already jogging her way out of the room, down the lengthy steps, and into the overly large opening of the living room and dining room.

But, somehow, she didn't reach her destination of the front door, for she collided with a stone like colossus figure. She was at the point of rushing out, and the impact had sent her tumbling backwards onto the warm, carpeted floor. Her breath was knocked out of her throat as the weight landed on top of her, squishing her like a bug.

And then she made the mistake to open her eyes wearily.

Looking down upon her, were two mesmerizing cobalt orbs, hard as a rock, and beaming off as much confusion as her face. They were staring smack on at her tawny eyes. She could feel the weight slightly lift off of her, but it was still constraining enough to make her realize that the burden hadn't left. In fact, the atmosphere seemed to suddenly become tense, in accordance to her body.

A silent gulp sounded in her throat as her incisors latched onto her plump bottom lip, trying to avoid any further noises from cascading. He made no notion to stand up, to say anything – to _do_ anything. He just looked down at her, seemingly getting lost in her glistening eyes.

"Troy…" She muttered, finding herself suddenly uncomfortable under his intense gaze. His eyes were now of hunger, anger, all mixed with an unknown emotion which she couldn't quite decipher. It wasn't common to see someone this engaged.

Troy's jaw promptly locked after his tongue darted out to lick his perfectly defined lips, to which Gabriella immediately watched with lustful eyes.

Then, he opened his mouth, and started leaning down, eliciting a loud gasp from Gabriella. He didn't look as if he was going to kiss her, which greatly baffled her to no extent, but she didn't get the chance to find out what he was going to do. Since, as soon as his breath aired onto her cheeks, there was squeal; it was foreign, and it hadn't been from Gabriella.

"Troy!

At the mention of his name, his head shot up, his face hard and colder than it usually was on a daily basis. And Gabriella swore she heard a growl come from the back of his throat, but she could have been imagining things.

"What the hell are you doing?" Allie pestered, running shockingly fast down the stairs until she was met face to face with that of Troy Bolton's. He was pulled up by the forearm, and the strength was undeniably more than a skinny girl like her should have. "Gabi, did he push you down?" She let go of Troy, only to aid to Gabriella's help and lift her up from the floor. "Are you ok?"

She should have expected all the questions to come at her, but for the life of her, she couldn't bring herself to state a coherent answer. Her mind was reeling back to the previous encounter with Troy, and how ravenous he looked when he stared down at her. Now though, he was back to his cocky self, and there weren't any emotions spewing. He was back to being…inhumane.

"She's just a clumsy idiot." Troy commented smugly, a dry grin outlining his once pursed lips."Try to remember how to walk next time, Montez."

He was instantly walking back to his room after the statement passed, and along the way stole one more nimble glance at Gabriella, silently saying something she didn't apprehend. She_ did_ notice the way he pushed Allie out of his way with her shoulder, and how she didn't even move an inch from the spot.

"Gabi?" Allie whispered, and all Gabriella could do was let her mouth hang open in apparent shock.

"I…." She furrowed her brows, disorientated. "I have to go."

This time, she didn't make the mistake of jogging.

Now, she ran.

* * *

><p>Home. She was finally home. Able to bask in the peace, the quietness, the lenient house.<p>

Her father called an hour ago, explaining how he was coerced into staying at work, but in a rather playful tone, enough to make her worry die down just a bit. She wasn't going to deny it – she missed her father and the time they spent together, like back in New York. It was enjoyable, and they were now drifting.

This town just brought her the worst of luck.

Gabriella recently got off the phone with Sharpay, after only 20 minutes of conversation until she was demanded to eat dinner, or the food would instead be fed to the dog. That got quite the reaction out of her best friend, and it only concluded in a large argument between her mother, father, and two younger siblings.

It made her envy the family though. She had siblings, something Gabriella endlessly wished for. She had parents, who were there each day to actually be able to bicker with each other.

But most of all…she wished for her mother.

Gabriella wasn't told much about her mother.

She only knew the simple details. How she died while giving birth to her, how she had been so enthused to have a daughter to call her own. To have a family with the man whom she loved so dearly.

Nothing else was told to Gabriella about her, and it was well respected…but she still wanted to know more about her deceased mother and if her personality was like Gabriella's or if, they were completely diverse people. Her father made it clear he didn't want to discuss it. Ever. The topic was always evaded, especially at the mention of the term 'mother'. Gabriella didn't even know her mother's name.

Gabriella sighed solemnly to herself as she stepped out of the shower. She always did her best thinking in there, which made it last for about 30 minutes to an hour of sitting on the floor and allowing the steam to consume her. She was scolded for wasting hot water, but did she ever listen? No.

The off white towel wrapped firmly around her body, tucking just above her chest to keep it pinned together. This house was always cold, it was refreshing at times, but when she just got out of the warm, relaxing shower, it was a pain in her ass.

After dressing into a pair of shorts, though regretting it after as the cold wafted in, and a plain white t-shirt, Gabriella pulled her drying curls into a lazy bun. Tomorrow was Friday, and then she'd have the rest of the weekend to herself – hopefully. She was praying that Allie wouldn't ask to complete the project any of those two days.

Taking a quick glimpse at the clock, she noted the time and briefly wondered when the arrival of her father would come. It was nearing 10, and there wasn't a sign of him; calling, or pulling up into the driveway. There was no reason to wait up for him, when he probably wouldn't come home until midnight. And she was surely going to pass out before then.

Gabriella settled into bed, immediately yawning once she was situated into a comfortable position. Today had been stressful in more ways than one, so the tired energy was all that she could focus on. So, she willingly closed her eyes, acceding to the calm sleep.

* * *

><p>There wasn't any sign of Allie in school today; she wasn't on the bus, wasn't in first period, wasn't in lunch…and there weren't any recent texts explaining her absence. It was weird, considering Allie told her that she was rarely ever away from school. This may be an exception, but Gabriella oddly felt like something was off, like something wasn't right.<p>

She didn't have much time to think about it though, because as she was walking down the vacant hall, her arm was forcefully yanked to the side, practically pulling it out of its socket. And then she was met with the darkness of an unknown room, and felt her back crush against the closed door. She winced in pain for only a moment, until she willed herself to focus on something other than the pain.

"What the fu—"

Light was shining onto them from the ceiling, which cut off the words she so intended on screaming out. Instead of screaming anything though, she instantly became mute when she saw Troy only inches away. He was giving her the same look when they both crashed onto the floor, only this time he had that infamous smirk on his lips.

His palms created a loud bang once they pressed against the door, his hands on either side of her head, caging her in from the surroundings. It then registered, that they were in the smelly environment of the janitor's closet.

"What the fuc—" She tried repeating once more, and this time, was almost able to complete the sentence until his palm made another loud sound against the door, like he had hit it.

"You were in my room." Troy stated blatantly, evoking a loud gulp from Gabriella, and her irises expanded. His smirk was still there, but his eyes held something else – pure amusement.

"I have no idea what you're—"

Again, he didn't let her finish, but now it was because his hand clamped over her lips. "You didn't think I would notice a pair of legs under my bed?" He exclaimed. "Or how you giggled?" Gabriella trembled under his hold, fearing for her life, completely. "Or how you sneaked out of my room when I left?"

All these questions were rhetorical, she understood that, but she wanted to be able to explain and defend herself, somehow. Was there really any use? Probably not, though it was nice to try sometimes.

"You also left this…" The hand that was against the door, slowly reached toward his pocket to pull an object out. Once it was grasped in his hand, he dangled it in front of her and reveled in the way her eyes widened further. "Under my bed."

She knew she forgot something. She fucking knew it. When she couldn't find her cell phone to call Sharpay, and instead had to use the house phone, the last thing she thought was that she left the phone in Troy's bedroom. She was too tired to assume anything, or to even think about where it had been.

Troy kept his hand sturdily on her lips as he leaned in, softly brushing his cheek up against hers while he spoke tightly near her ear. It sent sparks down her spine, through her body, and formed noticeable goose bumps on her skin. "If you _ever_ go into my room again, or even look at my fucking door while you're in my house, consider yourself…" But he never finished that sentence, and Gabriella had no idea where his train of thought had gone.

Quickly, all of the sudden, his hand dropped from her mouth and he let out a breath. "Watch yourself Montez." Troy grabbed her hand and clasped the phone into it, for a moment she thought she saw that actual spark that had ignited in class a few weeks ago, but he didn't make it look like he noticed.

He got the last word, and left her dumbfounded in the janitors closet – alone, and wondering how the hell he managed to pull these reactions from her.

She knew, now, that she wasn't scared of him, or angered by his presence like before….

She was fucking attracted to him.

And she was screwed.


	5. Chapter 5

After their little encounter precisely a week ago, Gabriella took it into her best interest to avoid all contact with Troy. That meant no minuscule glances, no bickering, and no appointments to hang with Alessandra at their residence. The project would have to be worked on at the library, to which she had no objections.

"Gabriella!"

She looked up from her notebook with a perplexed expression on her face and watched as her father subtly walked into her room, all the while continuing to call out her name as if she were miles away. He only stopped once he was a few feet away from her. "Your friend is at the door."

Gabriella decided to desist from asking why he was yelling at her, as she then noticed a working device perfectly planted in his ear. Work seemed to be taking over his life lately; he rarely had time to assist her in anything – even dinner.

Nodding, she sprinted past him and lightly trotted down the sturdy stairs until she took an abrupt stop at the closed door. When she opened the door, Allie was there with her bag slung over her shoulder and a vast smile shining across her lips.

"Hi." She said perkily as her body moved further, almost waiting for some sort of invitation to enter. Gabriella obliviously stared down upon her and shook her head slowly.

"Um, hi?" Gabriella mumbled, albeit beclouded by her appearance. "Not that I mind…but – what are you doing here? Is everything ok?" Even in the midst of it all, Gabriella was still driven to make sure there weren't any issues, though it was the last thing on her mind. Could she even consider this brunette as a friend?

Allie's face drooped a little, but her smile worked wonders on the convincing. "It's Saturday…we were supposed to go to the library today?"

And just like that, in only a matter of seconds, realization dawned upon her. They were scheduled to have a rendezvous at the library, but while she was working on math homework, the thought escaped her.

She swallowed thickly and stepped back involuntarily, her grip on the wooden door lessening as she tried to put on her best, fakest smile. "Let me just get dressed." Gabriella noticed the blue eyes glancing oddly at her pajamas, before they returned to meet her electrifying chocolates.

"You can come in and wait," Gabriella told her as she began walking towards her stairs. "Make yourself at home!" That was a horrible choice of words, she discerned after reaching her illuminated bedroom. She only knew Allie for what, 3-4 weeks? Yet, she couldn't quite categorize her as a friend, and that led to the mistrust. If anything was stolen or perhaps broken, her father would have her head squished into a blender.

Cavorting around her room aimlessly, she searched quickly to find an appropriate, yet random outfit to throw on. Her shirt was discarded seconds ago, replaced with a north face jacket now covering the tank top that once lay underneath her colossal pajama shirt. Tight jeans now rested smugly on her lower half and she slipped into the nearest black flip flops she could find. For a day in October, it was rather cold and windy in comparison to the recent days.

Gabriella grabbed her cell phone from her mattress and then ran her way into the hallway, until she finally approached her lengthy stairs. "Read—" Before she could effectively make it into the living room, she found herself clumsily tripping over the last two steps and flying forward, face first, onto the cold hardwood floor.

"Dammit," She groaned as her hands braced themselves against the floor, preventing her face from being smashed into oblivion. There was a momentary lapse of pain that shot through her, but easily absconded from her body once she was lifted up by Allie.

"You really are a klutz." Allie giggled sheepishly, letting her hand drop from Gabriella's forearm. "You ok, though? That was a pretty hard fall."

Gabriella merely nodded and swiped down her jacket, ignoring that snarky comment. "Just dandy." She answered. "Let's get going."

The two started for the door, Gabriella stomping in the lead, and Allie amusedly trailing behind. If Gabriella had been paying any attention at all, she would have acknowledged that her necklace snapped from the chain after her fall, and lay glowing on the floor.

"Holy cheese balls," Gabriella gasped at the sight of the Ferrari perfectly parked in _her_ driveway, making her father's car look like a piece of shitty metal. "This is your car?" She asked an octave higher than her normal light sounding voice.

"You like it?" Allie breathed out, seemingly shocked by Gabriella's admiration. "It was a gift from Xa—my mother."

Gabriella was too distracted by the shininess of the car to hear the slip up, so nodded as she gently reached out to touch the black layering. "It's beautiful." Considering her father had a cheap car, and hadn't bothered investing for her own car, this was like heaven to be able to put her fingers upon it. Better yet, to step inside the magnificent car.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Allie put pressure onto the key, signaling that it had been unlocked when there was a brief ring from inside. "She doesn't bite."

Gabriella laughed shyly. "Of course not." She shot a look back at her house, seeing her father pacing in the window as he spoke into the tiny microphone, and sighed as she finally slid into the Ferrari. Truthfully, she'd rather be at the library with Allie, than stay at home and be endlessly ignored by her own flesh and blood.

Funny how things worked in this state of Albuquerque.

* * *

><p>"Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things." Allie spoke in a quiet murmur as she read aloud the words from the laptop directly in front of her. Her eyes were so intently focused on the screen; Gabriella thought nothing might be able to break her away from her objective.<p>

"That's deep." Gabriella said sarcastically, leaning back into the brown wooden chair, currently sustaining her weight. She could care less about the irrelevant facts about the scientist – she just wanted the main points completed, so she could disappear and hand in this report.

"It's brilliant." Allie argued, trying her utmost hardest to get through to Gabriella. Though, she was off in space presently. "He was one of the most intelligent men to ever walk this planet, Gabriella. I mean…don't you just wish you could get a chance to go back into the 17h century and meet him? To experience what he discovered - learn his logic?"

Gabriella cocked an eyebrow. "Time travel back to the 17th century?" She immediately shook her head. "If anything, I'd want to go back to 1990s."

"But why? We have people who are still alive from that century – what's the fun in finding out something that has witnesses?" Allie responded and almost jumped up in her chair at how into the conversation she was. "There's _nobody _left from the 1800s, 1700s; _nobody_."

By the way she tried to get her point across, Gabriella felt herself falling into utter confusion. What was the big deal if she didn't want to go back that far, nonetheless, to meet some deceased scientist? And why was she so determined to make it evident of her opinions?

She opened her mouth, ready to respond with a statement prepared for bickering, but suddenly heard another voice overpower hers.

"Stop with that psychological shit, Al. Not everyone is like you."

Allie breathed deeply as she heard the voice. "Nobody asked you Troy."

"Exactly why I feel inclined to shut you up."

He was wearing a plain black t-shirt, not too baggy, but not tight enough for Gabriella to recognize the abs she now knew were there. His dark jeans hung low – she could faintly make out the blue of his boxers, which she found her mouth opening under protest. Surely her drool was flowing past her lips now, so she consciously placed her hand over her lips, forgetting how idiotic she looked.

"Why are you even here?" Allie barely shut her laptop, just making sure she could have a clean source to stare at him. "Don't you have something to _do_?" She hissed out the last words, craning her neck slightly as if to make him understand more clearly.

Gabriella fixed her gaze between the two, unsure of what to say or to do as she watched the siblings glare at each other.

"Me? Something to do? Nope." Troy stole a glance at Gabriella, his infamous grin making an appearance on his face, before he lazily sat down on the chair across from both girls. "Dad called me to check up on you. Make sure you weren't getting into trouble."

"Dad?" Allie clenched her fist dangerously, but Troy seemed to be the only one who noticed as Gabriella sat there dumbfounded. "Well, _Dad_, should not make assumptions. It is a library after all; there aren't many ways to get in trouble." She scoffed.

"_Dad_, was just being considerate." Troy ground out and dropped his notebook loudly onto the table, earning a blatant shush from the nearby librarian. "See? There's a lot of ways to get in trouble."

Much to Troy's amusement, Allie's fist had transformed into a deadly white shade. He knew the consequences of getting his sister angry, yet he continued to rile her up. "Go home, Troy. I have a project to finish."

He simply shrugged and shook his head. "I'll pass up on your offer." Again, his eyes took a slight shift to look at Gabriella, and this time was much shorter than previously. Gabriella gulped and looked down – she wasn't looking to get involved in brother and sister disputes. But, god, his eyes were so dazzling. She'd be lying if she said she didn't peak at him once more, only to find him and his sight on a nifty blonde bimbo.

"Troy, I swear—"

His hand rose, cutting her off from the sentence. This boy sure had a way with interruptions. "I have to talk to you about something." Troy thought for a minute, before leaning towards Allie. "Alone." He whispered.

Gabriella should have been offended by the look he then gave her, but it was uncanny to find her cheeks blushing profusely. This was like a total of three, or maybe four glances her way, without sending a rude one at that.

Allie stared at him for a good two minutes, her eyes laced with fire and frustration, until she finally stood up and walked to a corner. Troy flashed a toothy grin to Gabriella and carried himself over to his angry sister.

Gabriella slumped down in her seat, bringing her messy papers with her along the way. She wasn't sure what had just happened, but it was something she never wanted relived. This wasn't in character for her – she wasn't supposed to swoon over the man who she despised once upon a time. He treated her like utter shit, like she wasn't classified as a human, yet something pulled her towards him. Ever since that damn meeting in the janitors closet, and then even back at his house, she wasn't feeling all like herself.

Damn hi—

"Excuse me, miss," Gabriella's eyes jerked up to the speaker, an unfamiliar face to match with the unfamiliar voice. It wasn't at all correlated with Troy's deep, husky voice, and she berated herself for even comparing the two. This man was quite tall, and his green eyes were spiked with boredom. His black hair was neatly combed back, emitting an internal laugh, but she calmed down as she spoke.

"Yes?" She sat up straighter, clearing her throat in the process.

"Do you think you could help me find a book?" The man said politely, a hint of some English accent in his tone. "The librarian seems to be, uh, rather occupied at the moment." He used his thumb to point behind him; the librarian was disciplining a Goth looking chick, and some burly quarterback type.

"Erm," Gabriella hesitantly spoke, contemplating whether to be helpful and service this stranger, or to wait quietly for Troy and Allie's return. A sense of fear washed over her, though she wasn't too sure why. How would you make friends unless you associated with strangers? "Sure." She finished.

A smile formed on his face in admission to her acceptance. "Thank you so much."

Gabriella nodded and got up from the chair. "What's the name of the book?" She may have only been in this town for a short period of time, but accessing books and finding their location wasn't rocket science. Apparently this man must be lacking in the brain department.

He scratched the back of his neck in an oddly manner. "I believe it's; _Extinction of the Lercerina's_."

Gabriella pursed her lips, having never heard of that book, but there were a plethora of one's she hadn't heard of. "And who's it by?"

"I'm not 100 percent sure." He said.

"Oh, um, alright – I guess the title will have to do." Gabriella smiled weakly as she escorted him over to the secluded area, isolated from the rest of the tiny crowd in the library. It was all alphabetized according to the first letter of the title, usually the author accommodated the quest, but he was obviously in no place to guess who it was written by. He couldn't even find the damn area.

"So…" Gabriella started, continuing to rummage around for the story. "What's the book about?"

Feeling a shadow overpowering her, Gabriella reluctantly looked up from the stories to the man. He was towering her bubble with his arms across his chest, an amused look on his face. She gulped silently as her attention was transfixed back onto the books.

"A very beautiful woman who holds the power to ending a race." He spoke slowly, emphasizing each word with caution. "With her dead, it becomes, well…extinct."

Gabriella sighed as she continued searching. She couldn't find that damn title, and it may be her eyes skipping over it, so she put the effort into trying once more. "Sounds interesting."

"It is, very much so." The man inched closer to Gabriella's crouched figure. "Most people have wanted her dead; they just couldn't seem to find her." She suddenly felt a hand grasp her shoulder, and lightly squealed as she was lifted off the ground, and pulled against a rock hard chest. "Until now."

"What ar—"

"Make a noise, and this goes into your skin." Fear overcame her as a cold object pressed against her neck; to be what she assumed was a knife. He had it pushed quite roughly; there was no doubt that some blood hadn't already been drawn.

And as if he could read her mind, as she was about to plead for her life, he crushed his entire hand over her quivering lips.

"Gabriella?"

"Shush!"

"Don't fucking tell me to—"

"Troy, stop. Listen to the librarian."

Gabriella could vaguely hear Allie, Troy, and apparently the librarians voice mixed in a ramble. Her whimpers beneath the strong hand weren't enough to catch the attention of either of them, even as he began dragging her down the deserted isle.

She wasn't about to let herself be kidnapped and killed by this man though, not her on watch. She had been on this earth too short to be taken away so quickly. Marriage, kids, and pets – she needed to embrace each one, and that wouldn't be happening if she helplessly allowed him to drag her away.

With all her might, she bit down on the clammy skin of the hand on her mouth.

But her scared eyes then widened when the skin hadn't even been broken through. He didn't flinch, he didn't move his hand, and he didn't make a sign that it was painful.

"Can't just behave, sweetheart?" He growled into her ear as he jammed the knife further into her neck, this time she could feel a warm trickle of blood escape the new-found opening.

"She's not a fan of pet names." A voice parroted.

Gabriella felt like she could die of happiness right then and there, but her decision of staying alive had been kept in mind.

Before she could get a good glance at the man she knew spoke those words, she was released from the grip of the stranger and flung into the bookcase in front of her, causing her weight to knock a few books onto the floor. A soft grunt left her lips in a frenzy as she struggled to stand back up once more. Everything happened so fast, she wasn't entirely sure how she managed to get away from him.

"Oh my god, Gabriella," Allie's tortured voice came, and soon her body was kneeled next to her. "No, no, this wasn't supposed to happen yet."

"W-What?" Gabriella asked shakily as she looked up to Allie.

Allie didn't get a chance to respond, but it didn't seem like she was about to. Instead, she heard that heavenly voice of Troy's again, warning his sister that they needed to leave immediately.

"Gabriella, get up, we have to go." Troy hissed at her, handling the situation with ease when she hadn't moved even an inch. His arms scooped her up off the ground, effortlessly carrying her bridal style in the opposite direction of where she was once designated to go. Her mind was foggy, cloudy and blurry while she felt a sharp pain in her head.

And the last thing she saw, before everything turned black, was the man who had a knife pressed up to her throat before, lying on the floor with an opening in his chest. For the short moment her eyes were open, she was able to realize that the opening was directly in contact with his heart, and that said organ was on the floor next to his lifeless body.

Although, the silence of the librarian and other students went unnoticed, since they stood staring into thin air.

But it was the least of her worries, once she finally allowed her eyes to flutter closed.


	6. Chapter 6

Gabriella was never quite qualified to get into honors, due to her lack of devotion in work and laziness towards everything – though, she knew she had the brains and intelligence.

Her perception came as a surprise to many, except the selected few like her father or best friend, Sharpay.

Everyone conjectured that she was of the group with a low IQ, but that was remotely distant from the truth.

She was adept in academics—

Just not this.

"Back the fuck up!"

"Gabriella, will you please calm down?"

"I said to back the fuck up!"

"Clearly she wants you to back the fuck up, Al."

"Troy shut up!"

"Will both of you just back the fuck up!"

Troy didn't seem at all fazed by the boiling brunette with a lamp in her hand as she dangerously swayed it from side to side. She wasn't so threatening with a large gauge wrapped around her head, or that ridiculous bandage cleanly covering her neck wound.

He ripped his eyes from the menace to take a seat on the wooden chair in the corner, and once he did, interlaced his fingers together and rested them onto his lap. A delighted grin was visible across his lips, as his eyes held something other than anger. It was authentic amusement.

"Gabriella, please, just take a seat so we can explain—"

"Explain _what_?" Gabriella exasperated. "Why some guy was trying to kill me in a damn library? Or how he lay on the ground, _dead_, with his heart out of his body!"

"We'll explain it all once you calm—"

"Don't come any closer!" She bellowed out maniacally as her grip tightened around the lamp for redundant protection from these two – lying – bastards. Maybe not particularly liars in the general assumption, but they had been keeping something from her for a mere month or two.

"Allie, just go." Troy said with an emotionless nod. "I'll take care of this."

If anything, Gabriella would rather subdue to death than have Bolton alone with her in a room, after she was the victim of an abrupt, attempted killing. Besides the fact that she still hadn't deciphered her feelings for him – pure lust and attraction, or something hidden down under – she wasn't all keen on him offering assistance.

"No." Allie retaliated firmly as she looked in the direction of her brother. "I'm staying here."

Gabriella stood helplessly with the dangerous item at hand, flicking her gaze between the seemingly annoyed girl, and the agitated boy.

"No, you're not." Troy suddenly brought himself into a standing position and strode over to his sister. His eyes were dark and albeit scary, but his clenched fists were what caught Gabriella's undivided attention. "You're going to get the hell out of this room, do something productive, and return when I tell you to."

Gabriella flinched from his harsh resonance, for once not having been administered to her; but Allie didn't even spare a terrified glance towards him. She only let out a chafed breath and stomped thoroughly out of the room, the loud slamming of the sturdy door causing Gabriella to jump and let the lamp slip from her grasp.

"Sit down." Troy ordered – ignoring the shattered pieces of the light bulb now scattered across the carpeted floor. "_Now_, Gabriella." He added with grim.

Something in his tone coerced her into sitting down on the bed, and even if she couldn't feel her limbs doing the job of bringing her into a sitting position, she remembered the uncanny flare in his eyes beforehand.

He sighed out and he himself took a seat on the chair. "If you speak once while I talk, I'll tape your mouth shut, got it?"

Gabriella swallowed as he threw his head back with an alienated glance. Something about his persona today, was off from the recent days they had conversed. He was more intimidating this time, and she had no other choice but to obey to his commands or else she'd be too paralyzed to save herself.

"Glad we have an understanding." Troy paused. "Are you an open believer, Gabriella?"

For the life of her, she couldn't understand what that had meant. "Um, what do you, um, mean?"

He let out a snarky laugh. "Do you believe in fantasies? Fairies, wolves, witches?"

Gabriella's eyes widened at his question. Surely he wasn't saying that those fictional creatures had anything to do with the contemporary events? "I'm 17, not 5—"

"I'll take that as a no." He interrupted. God, he needed to stop doing that. "Age has nothing to do with what you believe in, Gabriella. I know you're stubborn and everything, but I think it's time to clear your mind of all those disbelieving thoughts about creatures."

She knew he was absolutely crazy – she always had a feeling that he was mental in the head somehow, she just couldn't figure out what was wrong with him besides the obvious.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She said breathily, satisfied with the completion of her statement.

"I'm talking about the guy back at the library. He's not an ordinary human."

Wow, she had actually forgotten about what just happened to her, what had almost happened to her if Troy hadn't intervened.

But now she was straight up confused.

"He was once a human…just like you, living his life in high school and aspiring to go to college. I'm sure he had his life mapped out." Troy got up from the chair and slowly, but cautiously inched near Gabriella. "But something got in the way of that. He was kidnapped, along with about a thousand other people." Gabriella gasped slightly at the revelation. "They tested on him, tortured him, and created what I like to call the perfect superhuman."

"I don't under—"

"What did I tell you about talking while I talk?" He growled, whipping his head towards her in an instant. Her shoulders slumped as she gave him a soft nod to reassure her silence. "The Cerques are a race of genetically enhanced humans, sired by Verints." A smirk replaced the thin line of his lips as he stopped short and looked at Gabriella. "And the Verints are no other than descents of vampires."

"Before you go sparking up an argument with me about I have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll have you know that I, myself, think it sounds crazy too. But this is pure truth, Gabriella. The Cerques were supposed to be beneficial to the Verints; they were supposed to be…good. One little slip of one of them turned everything to turmoil. Now the Verints are at war with the Cerques, all fighting for the same thing."

Troy noticed the fear stricken face of Gabriella, laced with the utter perturbation of the whole story he spoke out to her. It may come off as insane, but he was trying to prepare for this moment, and it happened all too quickly.

"They're fighting for the last of the Lercerinas; one hoping it will bring an end to the other, and one wanting it eliminated completely." Troy knelt down in front of Gabriella, his eyes bringing her further into a trance as she crawled forward onto the bed until she was fastened in front of him. "You, Gabriella, are the last of your almost extinct kind. And you hold the key to saving the Verints."

Silence.

More silence –

A laugh.

"I knew you were crazy!" Gabriella said vaguely between her laughing, and her attempt to crawl away from Troy. He noticed, and that only made him reach out to her, being so rudely denied by another giggle from the brunette.

"Well, I'd rather have this reaction than a violent one." Troy mumbled to himself as he sighed. "Gabriella, enough; you denying this will not make it go away." He hissed vehemently and walked to the other side of the bed, only to have her crawl back over to the recent one. "Will you fucking stop?"

"You need some serious help!" Gabriella was on the border of going absolutely mental, and having a panic attack from the binding hysteria flowing through her veins. "_Serious_ help!"

And then it all happened in the blink of an eye.

One minute, she was backing away from his flaying hands, hoping to evade any contact in a desperate struggle.

The next, before she could even let out a warning squeal, she was pinned against the bed with a body hovering over hers; and her wrists being held tightly to the mattress. The pain, the surprise attack, the never ending nerves – was all unbearable.

"I told you to fucking stop." Troy snarled methodically as every word was emphasized indubitably, the same royal eyes that gazed upon her cockily, now burning with a fiery acrimony. Gabriella looked up at him without much will and her breathing labored into panicked gasps.

"H-How did you move that fast?" She asked lowly as the pressure against her hands alleviated, but still mustered a painful wince from Gabriella. He was so far gone, it seemed, that he wasn't even aware of the affliction forced upon her.

Her voice had broken him out if his manic stupor and his eyes lightened back into a calm, serene swirl. "If you didn't believe what I just told you, there's no way you'd believe me now…" He whispered, studying her reaction that he had bubbled up inside of her. And much like before, back at his house when they were both trampled onto the floor, his whole being froze.

He knew it wasn't smart of him to get close to her – on both terms; physically and emotionally. There were dangers that compromised this whole task, especially his incapability to stop himself once he got a whiff of Gabriella's scent.

Control.

It wasn't working in his favor at the moment.

Gabriella whimpered helplessly underneath his grip as his hands tightened suddenly. He was ignoring her pleas, her commands for him to stop and explain what in the world was happening. Troy was only shifting his head further towards her with an empty gaze, like he wasn't himself, like all logic was thrown out the window.

She half expected him to kiss her at the path he was seizing.

But that was crazy to imagine, right? They hated each other. They fought, they bickered, and there was no sense that he had any attraction to her.

At least, she thought that – boy, had she thought that.

But much to her dismay, lips never met her own quivering ones. There was a ting of disappointment when her eyes followed his head that fastened in the crook of her neck. She found herself…_wanting_ for him to kiss her? Just to feel it. Just to know what it was like to be kissed by the sex god of the town.

And maybe that was why she never questioned what he was doing, because her thoughts were running wildly at their intimate position, and the kiss that would never come.

In her mind, she was reminiscing on the moment that landed her under Troys bed, but it was corrupted the second she felt a prick on her skin.

To be precise, the skin of her neck.

"Troy, what the fu—" Gabriella then squirmed to get him off, to free her hands, but to no avail. "Troy!" Her voice was louder this time, filled with anger and confusion. He was solid above her and she thought, he may have been ignoring her, but was anything getting into that head of his?

The pain that she felt on her neck increased so quickly as a loud gasp glided into the air. It hurt, like a needle puncturing and forcing its way past the territory – but just as quick as it came, it disappeared to a pleasure unlike any other.

The feeling that took over her body was foreign and seemingly exciting. There were shocks of a blissful sensation running down to her core, through her veins and in her nerves. She was hardly aware that his hand now cradled the back of her head, bringing it upright and closer. Gabriellas sense of awareness in general, abandoned her.

She could only feel this immense amount of satisfaction and the small wave of dizziness that was overcoming her mind.

It caused her to release a blatant moan; and she had no idea where the hell it came from. But her back was arching, lifting her body just barely off the bed and into Troys chest, and she was aching for something sexual – which rarely ever happened.

Of course, just as she was basking in the euphoria and crying for more, his body went limp onto hers.

"Gabriella?"

Troy was rolled off of her at a speed that Gabriella couldn't quite follow. "I knew I shouldn't have left him with you…no fucking control…dumbass…" Allie was mumbling to herself as she grabbed Gabriella's hands, pulling her up and off the bed. Small pieces of glass were stuck onto her clothes, and through her hazy mind, she realized that Allie just previously hit her brother on his back with the other lamp.

Considering he was lying on his stomach on the bed, dead to the world, with shards on his back.

"He'll be fine." Allie reassured Gabriella with a fake smile as she dragged her out of the room. Gabriella was almost in some sort of shocked state, that no words could be formed to express her worries and whatever the hell else she was wanting to say.

And then everything came to a halt when Gabriella's dazed eyes landed on the mirror in the hall, which they were passing by too fast for her liking. She pulled her hand from Allies grasp and walked backwards until she was faced with the reflection of herself.

"Gabriella, no—"

But Allies voice was mute to her.

"What the…"

That's when a scream echoed throughout the house, the same time Gabriella spotted the blood trickling down her neck, and the two holes perfectly incased on the skin.


End file.
